Hardshell
Hardshell was an Insecticon who lured in the underground of Cybertron, near it's very core. He and his brethren however were forced to move to higher ground when the core itself shut downand joined the Decepticon ranks along with his brothers. Somehow Hardshell ended up on Earth along with hundreds of other Decepticons and temporally followed Airachnid but soon defected back to Megatron upon being mind controled broken. During his service on Earth he almost killed Bulkhead and heavily damaged Wheeljack. However during a fight with Wheeljack, he was killed by Miko Nakadai. Biograghy Origins Hardshell was an Insecticon who dwelled in Cybertron's underground, near its very core. Hardshell was also one of the original Insecticons and one of the few capable of full speech. At somepoint he and the Insecticons joined the Decepticon ranks. Encounter with Wreckers Though Hardshell's history with the Wreckers is mostly unknown, he claimed to have fought and killed many Wreckers in his time. This is supported by the many scars on his body that would be seen in Transformers: Prime and his ability to fight Wreckers Bulkhead and Wheeljack with ease. ("Toxicity") Arrival on Earth At some unknown point for unknown reasons, Hardshell and a load of Insecticons made their way to Earth in stasis pods. They became stuck underground only to be discovered by Airachnid. ("Crossfire") Hardshell was controlled and released from his pod to attack the Decepticon warship the Nemesis. However during the attack, Airachnid was sealed in one of those stasis pods by Arcee and the Insecticons mind control was broken. Seeing no other way to go, Hardshell and his Insecticon brothers joined Megatron. ("Armada") When the Nemesis gained sentience thanks to Dark Energon, Hardshell was zapped into stasis . ("Flying Mind") Encounter with Bulkhead/Hunt for Tox-En Hardshell volunteered his services to retreive a Cybertronian relic of unknown origin for Megatron at the Equator. He took three other Insecticons with him who all searched for the object. Along the way Hardshell encountered former Wrecker Bulkhead and battled him. However Bulkhed emerged the victor with one of Hardshell's hoof's being blown off. However Hardshell was not terminated and his Insecticon brothers came back for him and the four headed out for the Wrecker and the relic. Hardshell and his brothers found the relic, only to discover a grenade in the pod. One Insecticon fell for the deception and was killed, but this allowed Hardshell to discover the pods content; Tox-En. Hardshell and the remaining two Insecticons followed a trail of Energon from Bulkhead's leaking body but soon realized it to be another deception and anticipated his arrival at the top of the volcano. Upon arriving they found the Wrecker had been physically carrying it and attacked him. However Bulkhead killed an Insecticon with a single grenade and badly damaged another, leaving only him and Hardshell and the two battled. However despite Hardshell's best efforts, he was knocked into the volcano along with the Tox-En. Hardshell survived but the Tox-En was lost, Hardshell in anger of this shot Bulkhead as he walked back through his GroundBridge. ("Toxicity") Mission Aftermath Hardshell returned to the Nemesis to face his leaders anger alongside Knock Out, Dreadwing and Soundwave. When Megatron asked for Hardshell's excused, he had none but eased his leaders anger by stating the Bulkhead was terminated. Knock Out however doubted Hardshell's accomplishment stating that the Insecticon under his recent command was useless which made Hardshell very enraged. Later he was gloating about his victory to two of his brothers until two Vehicons called him and his brothers "pit loving scavengers" and "scrap eaters" which resulted in a brawl on the ship that made Knock Out want them contained. Wheeljack then called the Decepticons to reveal that Bulkhead wasn't killed after all and demanded the Decepticons hand over Hardshell which Megatron did, with the demand that Hardshell return with his spark instead. Fight with Wheeljack and Death Hardshell arrived at an Energon mine that Wheeljack planned to raid along with many dozen of his brothers, but had them stay hidden for an ambush in the event of termination. Hardshell then revealed himself when Wheeljack called for him and the two fought in a brutal fight in which Hardshell gained the upper hand and heavily damaged Wheeljack. However before he could succeed, Wheeljack's ship the Jackhammer powered up and a missile fired by Miko Nakadai blasted him away, destroying his spark and killing him for good. ("Hurt") Non-Canon Appearances Hardshell does not speak in this peice of media from the aligned series Hardshell appears as a boss character in the 2012 High Moon Studio's game Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. In this game he retains his Generation 1 Bombshell/Hardshell looks instead of his Prime appearance. He is sent to fight Grimlock in a mobile suit with rockets but is defeated and is used to unlock the next door with his optics. ("Fall of Cybertron") He is also the only boss who actually displays a health bar when fighting. All other boss character do not display health. If one looks around, they can access a pannel that gives some early tips on how to defeat Hardshell before they actually fight them Personallity and Traits Hardshell was a ferice brutal and merciless warrior, most likley experience from fighting the Wreckers. He also liked to gloat about his victories to his brothers and had little pateince for those who insulted him and his brothers, even going as far as fighting his own comrades. Hardshell had very little weaknesses apart from his need to tell his victims who killed them before getting the final kill, this is what lead to his death at the hands of Miko. Appearances/Actors *''Prime cartoon'' **''Toxicty (First appearance) - David Kaye **Hurt'' **''Out of the Past (Mentioned only)'' *''Games'' **''Fall of Cybertron (Non-canon) - ''No voice actor Notes *Hardshell is voiced by David Kaye who voiced previously Megatron in Beast Wars/Machines and the Unicron Trilogy. He also voiced Lug Nut and Optimus Prime in TF: Animated. *He is so far the only one of the original Insecticon trio to have made a Prime appearance *Hardshell's appearance in TF: Prime can be distinguished from his common brothers from his darker colours and multiple scars on his body. Trivia *Hardshell claims to have killed many Wreckers. This can be supported by the many scars on his body and his ableness to stand up to Bulkhead and Wheeljack for a considerable amount of time, almost killing them too. *Hardshell claims that mid battle banter is a sign on weakness. Category:Decepticons Category:Insecticons Category:Deceased Category:Prime Decepticons Category:Fall of Cybertron Decepticons